The following words and terms (concerning General Definitions),
when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Acceptable approved medical school--A medical school
or college located in the United States or Canada that has been accredited
by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education or the American Osteopathic
Association Bureau of Professional Education.
(2) Acceptable unapproved medical school--A school
or college located outside the United States or Canada that:
(A) is substantially equivalent to a Texas medical
school; and
(B) has not been disapproved by a state physician licensing
or education agency.
(i) If another state's physician licensing agency or
education agency has determined that a medical degree conferred by
a medical school is not the equivalent of an accredited or authorized
degree or has otherwise disapproved the medical school, the board
will not recognize the medical school as an acceptable unapproved
medical school, unless:
(I) the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has
determined that a degree conferred by the medical school is the equivalent
of an accredited or authorized degree through the review process described
by §61.3021, Texas Education Code; or
(II) the applicant can provide evidence that the determination
or disapproval by the other state was unfounded.
(ii) A fraudulent or substandard medical school operating
outside the United States or Canada shall not be an acceptable unapproved
medical school. "Fraudulent or substandard," as used in this subsection,
has the meaning assigned by §61.302, Texas Education Code. If
the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board certifies that it has
determined, through the review process described by §61.3021,
Texas Education Code, that a medical degree conferred by a medical
school is not the equivalent of an accredited or authorized degree,
the board will not recognize the medical school as an acceptable unapproved
medical school.
(iii) This section shall not affect any person who
received a license from the board prior to a determination by the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board through the review process
described by §31.3021, Texas Education Code.
(3) Affiliated hospital--Affiliation status of a hospital
with a medical school as defined by the Liaison Committee on Medical
Education and documented by the medical school in its application
for accreditation.
(4) Applicant--One who files an application as defined
in this section.
(5) Application--An application is all documents and
information necessary to complete an applicant's request for licensure
including the following:
(A) forms furnished by the board, completed by the
applicant:
(i) all forms and addenda requiring a written response
must be typed, printed in ink, or completed online;
(ii) photographs must meet United States Government
passport standards;
(B) all documents required under §163.5 of this
title (relating to Licensure Documentation); and
(C) the required fee.
(6) Board--Texas Medical Board.
(7) Continuous--12 month periods of uninterrupted postgraduate
training with no absences greater than 21 days, unless such absences
have been approved by the training program.
(8) Good professional character--An applicant for licensure
must not be in violation of or have committed any act described in
the Medical Practice Act, Texas Occupations Code Annotated, §§164.051
- 164.053.
(9) One-year training program--A program that is one
continuous year of postgraduate training approved by the board that
is:
(A) accepted for certification by a specialty board
that is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties or the
Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists; or
(B) accredited by one of the following:
(i) the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education, or its predecessor;
(ii) the American Osteopathic Association;
(iii) the Committee on Accreditation of Preregistration
Physician Training Programs, Federation of Provincial Medical Licensing
Authorities of Canada;
(iv) the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Canada; or
(v) the College of Family Physicians of Canada; or
(C) a postresidency program, usually called a fellowship,
performed in the U.S. or Canada and approved by the board for additional
training in a medical specialty or subspecialty; or
(D) a U.S. or Canadian graduate medical education training
program, that subsequently received accreditation by the Accreditation
Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Osteopathic
Association (AOA) or Royal College of Physicians, and was accepted
by a specialty board that is a member of the American Board of Medical
Specialties, the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists, or the Royal College
of Physicians for Board certification purposes.
(10) Sixty (60) semester hours of college courses--60
semester hours of college courses other than in medical school that
are acceptable to The University of Texas at Austin for credit on
a bachelor of arts degree or a bachelor of science degree; the entire
primary, secondary, and premedical education required in the country
of medical school graduation, if the medical school is located outside
the United States or Canada; or substantially equivalent courses as
determined by the board.
(11) Substantially equivalent to a Texas medical school--A
medical school or college shall be considered to be substantially
equivalent to a Texas medical school under the following conditions:
(A) An acceptable approved medical school shall be
considered to be substantially equivalent to a Texas medical school.
A medical school operating within the United States or Canada that
is not an acceptable approved medical school shall not be considered
to be substantially equivalent to a Texas medical school.
(B) A medical school operating outside the United States
or Canada may be determined to be substantially equivalent to a Texas
medical school if the medical school is designed to select and educate
medical students and provide students with the opportunity to acquire
a sound basic medical education through training in basic sciences
and clinical sciences. The school should provide information about
the school's program of advancement of knowledge through research;
the school's development of programs of graduate medical education
to produce practitioners, teachers, and researchers; and, the school's
program to provide opportunity for postgraduate and continuing medical
education, for the board's consideration. In addition, to be determined
substantially equivalent to a Texas medical school, the medical school's
characteristics shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i) The facilities for basic sciences and clinical
training (i.e., laboratories, hospitals, library, etc.) shall be adequate
to ensure opportunity for proper education.
(ii) The admissions standards shall ensure that the
medical school has a pool of applicants sufficiently large and possessing
United States national level qualifications to fill its entering class.
Medical schools must select students who possess the intelligence,
integrity, and personal and emotional characteristics necessary for
them to become effective physicians.
(iii) The curriculum shall meet the requirements for
an unapproved medical school as set forth in the "Curriculum Definitions
for Course Areas Prescribed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board for Determining Eligibility of International Medical Graduates
for Texas Medical Licensure," as adopted by the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, as follows:
(I) The basic sciences curriculum shall include the
contemporary content of those expanded disciplines that have been
traditionally titled gross anatomy, biochemistry, biology, physiology,
microbiology, immunology, pathology, pharmacology, and neuroscience.
(II) The fundamental clinical subjects, which shall
be offered in the form of required patient-related clerkships, are
internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry,
family practice, and surgery.
(iv) The curriculum shall be of at least 130 weeks
in duration.
(v) There must be integrated institutional responsibility
for the overall design, management and evaluation of a coherent and
coordinated curriculum.
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